Energy Transfer, which wants to extend a large natural gas pipeline across Richland and Crawford counties, has released detailed maps of precisely where its line would go in the ground.

A spokesperson for the company said the route still remains preliminary at this point. The Rover pipeline project, which would have a diameter of 42 inches as it traverses north central Ohio, must be certified by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission before it can become reality.

Energy Transfer plans to file a certificate application with FERC in January, and is hoping for project certification by November 2015. FERC has a history of approving the vast majority of pipeline proposals it receives.

"Until all the surveying is completed, this won't be the final route. It will continue to be an evolving process until we submit our application in January," said Vicki Anderson Granado, a spokesperson for Energy Transfer.

But the new maps are by far the most detailed ones the company has made available to date.

"Any time we can reduce the environmental impact and steer clear of historical artifacts, cemeteries and homes, that's what we try to do. We look at the terrain to see where it's flat. Eighty percent of the pipeline's route will go under agricultural land. And it's nice when we can have the route as straight as possible," Granado said.

The Rover pipeline's proposed route across Richland and Crawford counties is certainly that.

The pipeline will enter Richland County from Ashland County just north of the crossroads called Pavonia, and follows a ridge west-northwest until reaching Ohio 545 south of the village of Epworth, very close to the Dayspring Assisted Living facility.

From there the route moves straight west, crossing Ohio 13 just south of its intersection with Ganges Five Points Road, then paralleling Brubaker Creek for several miles. It enters a relatively populated area south of Shelby, crossing Ohio 314 just above where Ohio 61 joins it from the south, at which point it veers northwest and goes into Crawford County.

The route bisects Crawford County on a virtually uninterrupted northwest trajectory. After scooting between the village of Tiro and a tiny grouping of homes labeled DeKalb on county maps, the route traverses several sprawling agricultural fields south of New Washington, then passes to the north of Chatfield and Lykens before entering Seneca County.

Granado said the Rover pipeline will follow existing corridors whenever possible, noting that several pipelines already crisscross Richland and Crawford counties. Much of the route in the latter county shadows an electric transmission line.

Ironically, the pipeline runs right across the site of the Black Fork Wind Farm, a vast renewable energy project that has received state approval but has yet to get off the ground. That project would include 91 turbines at a towering height of 494 feet west of Shelby, north of Crestline, but primarily surrounding Tiro, a sleepy village that on a recent afternoon was quiet except for a dog nosing around in front of the Tiro Tavern.

Although the wind farm encountered some local opposition during its approval process, no organized opposition to the Rover pipeline has emerged in the area, and Granado wasn't aware of any either.

"We're focused on completing our surveys and communicating with landowners. We have teams on the ground dedicated to answering their questions," she said.

Granado said various permits will be required from townships, counties and other localities as the pipeline project moves along, although horizontal drilling technology will allow the pipeline to go in the ground without roads being broken.

While Energy Transfer will purchase permanent easements of 50 feet across from the owners of property traversed by the pipeline, temporary easements of 150 feet will be needed during construction, Granado said. In most cases, she said, farmers can resume tilling that ground after the pipeline goes operational.

The Rover pipeline's route will include a compressor station in Crawford County, but Granado said it's too soon to say exactly where that will be located. The above-ground stations help move gas in the pipeline by keeping it under 210,000 horsepower of pressure.

The Rover pipeline will originate in the shale fields of eastern Ohio and after reaching a hub in Defiance, in the western part of the state, extend into Michigan and ultimately Ontario, Canada. TransCanada also is looking at building a natural gas pipeline through north central Ohio, possibly tracing the Richland-Knox County line before moving northwest into Morrow and Crawford counties, but has yet to file a prefiling request with FERC. Other pipelines in this corridor also are being evaluated.

"We're seeing increased demand in areas where there is no infrastructure. It's been gradually building up, and then all at once we had a surge of customers trying to get the gas in our system," said Gretchen Krueger, a TransCanada spokesperson.

"A real need has arisen just within the last year. More homes are gravitating toward natural gas as a source of energy. It's a different ballgame now, with where the gas is and where it needs to be."